One of a professional journalist's challenges is to keep your self-interest in check when reporting and analyzing a campaign.

Janyce McGregor

I know personally, because I'm a new, working mom, the child care debate hits me both in the heart and the pocketbook. Because my parents are farmers, I take notice of the parties' positions on support for agriculture. And yes, because I work for the CBC, any time someone starts in about whether CBC funding has gone up or down, I'm drawn to that discussion like a moth to a flame. I can't help it.

The CBC's funding came up in the English debate last night. This isn't surprising of course — it's a "red meat" issue for the Conservatives' base, and they apparently get plenty of mail complaining about the amount of taxpayers' money that goes to the CBC. Plus, funding for arts and culture more generally has morphed into one of the most polarizing issues of the campaign so far.

In the interest of correcting the record, here's a link to the government's main estimates.

Go to page 139 of this document and you can see for yourself whether the CBC's funding is up or down this year, under the Conservatives' watch.

— Janyce McGregor